New Moon
by EclipsedbytheSon
Summary: Co-authored by CocoWinterDeathAngel. The Gundam boys discover a forgotten soldier at an abandoned OZ base. Who is this girl? And will she ever be able to regain her humanity?
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** New Moon  
**Authors:** EclipsedbytheSon and Cocowinterdeathangel  
**Summary:** The Gundam boys discover a forgotten soldier at an abandoned base. Who is this girl? What was OZ training her for? And will she ever be able to regain her humanity? (At least, that's what we _think_ this story is about so far...)  
**Pairing:** Uh....we'll get back to you on that, but there won't be any Yaoi...we don't think...

**Disclaimer:** We don't own Gundam Wing or any of the characters associated with Gundam Wing (all though we both aim to each ahve a - DUO PLUSHIE - by the end of the year) We do however have joint custody of teh plot (whatever it ends up being...)

**Author's Note:** Yeah, so, we decided we wanted to co-author a story together, and we came up with a basic idea. We know sort of where this is going, but we are open to suggestions. We'll most likely be updating every Thursday night, so look for chapters on Friday morning.

**_PLEASE REVIEW!!!_**

Hope you enjoy,  
EBTS and CocoWinterDeathAngel

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Chapter one

She awoke on day four-hundred-seventy-five at exactly five-thirty in the morning, just as she had on every day before it. She couldn't remember when she had last needed an alarm to wake her, but she knew it had been several years before, when she was very young.

She stood, dressed, left her room, and began her daily activities. She jogged around the perimeter of the base. It was a cold morning, but she ignored the temperature as she had been trained. There were no signs of anyone having breached the perimeter. She went to the command room and recorded her report of the morning patrol: _Perimeter secure_.

After reporting, she went to the mess hall and got herself some food. The supplies were getting low. She pulled a can of soup from a shelf and opened it with a can opener. She did not heat the soup; instead she drank the cold chicken broth and noodles directly from the can. She was practically falling over from hunger, but she ignored the feeling and only ate half of the can. The rest of the soup was put into the refrigeration unit to be saved for the mid-day meal.

She then went to the battle simulation room and sat down in simulation cockpit. Pulling the helmet on over her head, she ordered the computer to commence with the battle simulations. There was no new data entered into the program. _'There hasn't been any new data for four-hundred-seventy-five days,'_ a nagging voice whispered in the back of her mind. She ignored it and ordered the computer to randomize data from a list of battles that had been entered.

At exactly noon, she finished her pilot training and went on her second check of the perimeter. Once again, there was no sign of a breech or anything suspicious. _'There hasn't been anything suspicious for over a year,_' the nagging voice told her. She ignored it once again. The Sergeant's orders had been for her to check the perimeters every day at dawn, before the mid-day meal, and then again at dusk.

She reported on her patrol and then went to the mess hall and finished her can of soup. After her meal, she went to the firing arms ground. She had to practice her shooting. The Sergeant insisted that while she was supposed to be primarily a pilot, she had to be the best gunman in OZ as well.

She took a rifle off the wall and went to the ammunition case to load it. There were only two bullets for the gun. She frowned and put the rifle back on the rack. Two shots weren't enough to give her sufficient practice, and she decided it would be better for her to save the bullets in case she needed to use the rifle during an attack. She decided to practice with a hand gun. She was almost out of those bullets as well. In fact, she was almost completely out of all ammunition for hand-held weapons. She did not have enough to practice with.

Frowning, she turned and went back to the control center. Sitting down at a communication station, she placed the microphone and ear piece over her head and turned the radio to the first OZ radio channel.

"This is Pilot Seven, stationed at the OZ New Orleans Base. We are in need of more ammunition for the following firearms..." She listed off all the firearms held at the base. "Please respond, over." She sat and waited, but received no response besides the crackle of static. She repeated the message and waited again, but still did not receive an answer. She switched to the second channel and repeated her message again, and waited for a response. None came. She switched to each of the other twenty channels in turn, repeating her message. No one answered her on any of the channels.

Finally, having exhausted all OZ channels, she stood up and pulled on a coat. According to the weather equipment, there was a large storm coming, and the mobile suits had to be moved inside to avoid damage by lighting.

For the next two hours, she moved the mobile suits that had been outside into hangers. To others it would have been tedious work. For her though, it was what she was supposed to do, because it was what she had been trained and ordered to do. The tediousness of the task wasn't a factor in how well she preformed.

When the mobile suits were moved, she returned to the command center and radioed for ammunition again. Still no answer. The storm had started by the time she was done, the lukewarm winter rains of the sub-tropical environment were pounding against the windows of the base as lighting flashed in the sky.

She went out into the rain and checked the perimeter for the final time that day. She gave her report that the perimeter was secure and then went to the mess hall where she found a can of sardines. She ate them and washed them down with water from her canteen.

She spent the rest of the evening back in the simulation room, fighting battle after battle. After a few hours, she went back to her room, undressed and slid into bed. Pulling out the hand-held computer she had been given to keep personal reports in, she recorded the events of the day:

**January 4, AC 197  
****475 days since the other soldiers left the base.**  
**No sign of trouble on patrols. Battle simulation going well. Out of ammunition for firearms. Radioed for more, received no answer. Stormed ****today. Moved Leos into hanger. Food supply getting dangerously low. ****Will commence SOS signaling in two days if continue to receive no ****answer on radio.**

Once her record was done, she plugged the device into the wall, laid down, and went to sleep.

The girl had been presented to Lieutenant McCave when she was no more than three years old. She was a war orphan, with bright green eyes and thick black hair. Her brain scans and other tests revealed that she would make the perfect candidate for the project. Under his suggestion, the Romafeller Foundation took her in as a ward and sent her to the New Orleans Base to be trained under the Specials.

However, Pilot Seven --as the girl was called-- underwent special training. She was kept alone and was never trained with other soldiers. She did not play, she trained. The only people she had close contact with were her instructors. They were given strict orders to train her to ignore pain, weather, hunger, and exhaustion until her missions were complete. They were forced to train her to ignore emotions as well. "A person who is not totally immune to emotion will not be able to completely handle this System," Lieutenant McCave insisted. He received a promotion to the level of Colonel two years after Pilot Seven arrived at the base for choosing such a perfect candidate.

And so the girl was trained. A plan was devised to make her easier to train. It was noticed by one of her trainers that she was enthralled by the moon. Upon questioning, Pilot Seven expressed a deep wish to go to the moon. She was given materials to read about the moon, and her interest just grew. She was then told that if she did all that she was told, never left the base, and completed her training to expectations; she would one day go to the moon. This idea of a visit to the moon was encouraged in her.

From then on, whenever she disobeyed her orders, expressed or followed her emotions, or did anything that displeased her trainers, she was given a warning: "Perhaps I should inform Colonel McCave that you do not deserve to go to the moon?" At the first hint that she would not be able to go to the moon, Pilot Seven immediately did as she was expected.

In the year AC 195, when Pilot Seven was 15, she was first introduced to the System. The first few simulations using the System ended in utter failure. Even after suppressing her emotions for ten years, Pilot Seven still could not keep them in check when the System was turned on. She ended each test simulation in a screaming fit, tearing the helmet from her head and throwing it across the room. She was rejecting the system. Sometimes she rejected it with hatred, other times with fear, other times with confusion. Finally after a few hours of her rejecting the system, Colonel McCave had enough. Stalking over to the simulation cockpit, he picked up the helmet from the floor and thrust it at the raven-haired girl. She didn't take the helmet, just stared at it and shook her head.

"Take it and put it on," Colonel McCave hissed through gritted teeth.

When she continued to refuse, he bent forward so that he was just inches from her face. "If you don't do as I say, you will not go to the moon. And if you fail to keep yourself in check and you continue to express emotion, you won't go to the moon. Ever."

Pilot Seven's eyes went wide. "Yes sir," she said, taking the helmet in her hands reluctantly and sliding it over her head.

"That's better," the Colonel said, nodding. He turned and went back to the observation room. "Commence simulation again."

This time, with the threat of not being able to go to the moon hanging over her head, Pilot Seven suppressed her emotions and managed to keep from going into a fit. She completed the simulation, much to the surprise of many people in the room.

"Well, gentlemen, it looks like we have a capable pilot for the Epyon," Colonel McCave beamed.

"I heard a rumor that Trieze Kushranada is planning on someone else instead of Pilot Seven to operate that mobile suit," one officer said.

McCave snorted. "Trieze Kushranada will not be in power of OZ forever. When he is finally gone, then this girl will be the pilot of the Epyon. She could easily kill anyone else filling the space. She will be the one to defeat the Gundams."

But Pilot Seven never had the chance to kill for her proper position or face the Gundams in battle. One night in late September of AC 195, the base was attacked by rebels. Believing the rebels had a nuclear warhead that they were ready to detonate, the OZ soldiers fled the base, abandoning it. The rebels didn't have a nuclear warhead, but they did cause significant damage to the base and they allowed the rumor circulate that the base had been booby-trapped so that if anyone returned to the base, the nuclear war head would detonate.

Pilot Seven knew none of this. She only knew that one night she heard explosions and shouts and gunfire. People ran past her room, but since she was not supposed to leave her room after her curfew, she did not ask them what was happening. Fear welled up inside her, but she suppressed and ignored it. Part of her wanted to flee the base, but a larger part knew that leaving the base meant disobeying her orders, and that would mean she would never go to the moon. If the disturbance was serious, someone would be sent to get her. No one came for her, and so she stayed.

The next morning she emerged from her room to find herself completely alone on the base. It did not occur to her that she had been forgotten, and so she decided that she had been left behind to hold the base until the rest of the soldiers returned. She went about her daily activities as usual. She patrolled the grounds, ran simulations with the System cockpit, repaired damaged mobile suits and repaired what she could of the buildings. She was certain that Colonel McCave and her instructors would eventually return to the base and commend her for her work by finally taking her to the moon. And as her food supplies started to get scarce, her conviction on the matter only grew.

It wasn't until late January of AC 197 that Pilot Seven learned –from her former enemies-- that Colonel McCave had died along with her instructors during the final battle between Earth and the White Fang. But still she continued on in hopes of one her instructors would come and fulfill their promise to her.

After the evacuation of the base peace was restored to the village near by that was what was left of the grand city of New Orleans. Of course, the odd sounds coming from the base caused uproar amongst the town's people. The adults convinced themselves that the government was working on some type of operation to keep the peace at the abandoned base. For the local children, however, it wasn't a government operation. For them, the base was haunted.

They had many stories of soldiers wondering the halls of the base, making noises to remind the town that they would forever be in charge. The stories grew to be very out landish, and soon were passed off as just a town myth.

But it was a town myth that had some grain of truth to it, for the noises, moving mobile dolls, and flickering lights were caused by Pilot Seven. But no one in the town knew of the forgotten girl, and so the myth about the soldiers continued on as just a myth.

The strange noises from the base continued for over a year until the towns people had enough. The mayor of the town was convinced that some type of government operation was going on at the base. He took a stand and called the head of security. It took months before he actually got through to Lady Une, the head of security of both the space colonies and earth. When he finally did, his voice of course was filled to the brim with frustration. Of course some of the younger couples saw his plan of action to be extreme, but they would not protest the elders in the town for they had great honor in this town.

Lady Une had been sitting in her office pouring over the latest reports from the Gundam pilots when her secretary came in. Lady Une didn't look up until the young lady made her presence known. "Miss, the mayor of New Orleans is on the phone and he keeps yelling on about some government operation going on the base there, that he doesn't approve of."

Lady Une shot up. _'There's no operation going on in New Orleans,_' the voice screamed in her head. Without delay she picked up the phone. "Hello, Mayor. What's this I hear going on? There is no operation going on in New Orleans. I can assure you that nothing is going on there." Lady Une listened to the man's story about moving mobile dolls and strange noises before deciding that this was a definite emergency. "We'll send our best," assured Lady Une as she got off the phone.

Her light pink lips felt dry as she picked up the phone, and Heero's voice rang in her ear. "You and the others need to find out what is going on in New Orleans. Now. I fear we have an army of terrorists trying to start a rebellion."

"Mission accepted," replied the monotone Heero Yuy.


	2. Chapter 2

Yay! Update! Sorry this is a day later than we said it would be, but EBTS was unable to get to a computer yesterday.

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**New Moon  
**by Cocowinterdeathangel and EclipsedbytheSon

**Disclaimer**: We don't own anything. (except EBTS has found a site that sells Gundam Wing Plushies, and she has ordered a Duo plushie from it!!!)

**Shai Moonflower**: This is a Non-Yaoi fic, and we agree that there need to be fewer Yaoi fics.

.0. means a break in either time or point of view (because no other markers would work)

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****Chapter Two**

Duo rubbed his eyes wearily as he dragged his feet to the private shuttle. They were being over worked, and he felt like he'd been slammed into a brick wall. Usually headquarters sent rookies to handle this type of stuff. The chance of a real threat had gotten wicked low, and usually when some superstitious elderly person called, it usually ended up being a false alarm. That's why rookies were sent first. But Duo guessed that it was finally time to do some work to earn the pay check.

He felt like the only one in the group who needed some extreme R&R. He buckled himself in and forced a smile as everyone got ready for departure. Most people were asleep in the colonies……..sleeping. _Warm comfy bed_, thought Duo with a small pout. He smiled though when he noticed that he wasn't the only one who was feeling burnt out.

Next to Duo sat Quatre, who looked like the living dead. Of course Heero, Trowa, and WuFei didn't show any sign of weariness, but they weren't good enough examples. Hell, they weren't even human, or at least that was what Duo was thinking at the moment.

They had spent this year juggling missions and false alarms. Not to mention school, a basic social life, and to top it all off they hadn't slept for a good week or so because of end of the semester finals. Basically, Duo had spent hours pouring over thick text books trying to memorize the stuff he needed to know. But he had to admit that Quatre had it even worse. He had to juggle the family business, not to mention everything else.

But other than work their basic social lives were down the drain. Their fellow peers just didn't understand the amount of stuff that was required of them, and lost interest in them quickly since they couldn't hang out all the time.

Duo knew one thing though, and even Heero had to admit to this: they all wanted an easy mission that could last the whole summer, not too strenuous, simple, like babysitting, a mission that would allow R&R.

The shuttle shook violently as it took off. The approximate landing time would be a half an hour. He leaned back and closed his eyes, "Please let this be the dream mission."

"Maxwell, up," came a sharp irritated voice.

"Huh?" mumbled Duo. He stretched and realized WuFei was glaring at him.

"Stop being a lazy oaf," lectured WuFei.

"Sorry for being human," mumbled Duo. He joined the others out by the limo.

"We're going to New Orleans Base. It's an abandoned Oz base, but the town's folk say they hear sounds of mobile suits. They contacted Lady Une, and told her that it was becoming a problem. The problem is the towns' people were convinced that it was a government operation. We all know that nothing is going on in New Orleans that involves government security. Lady Une wants a full report before noon," Heero explained.

They all got in a truck provided for them and drove to the town of New Orleans. It wasn't a long drive at all. The scene was out of an old movie where it seemed nothing could go wrong.

"No wonder they freaked out about noise," laughed Duo. He had to admit to himself that this town was a little too happy for his liking.

They continued and drove out of the little town and up a dirt road. They came to a sudden stop. There was an old mobile suit blocking the road.

They would have to continue on foot. They all climbed up and over the mobile suit, and continued up the hill. The road was hidden by trees on both sides. However on the right side was a steep cliff to sharp jagged rocks on the bottom. The other side was over grown with wild flowers and trees and other plants.

They continued walking and found what they had been looking for. The New Orleans OZ Base. It was in ruins, how could anything be going on there? The walls were over grown with vines, moss, mold, and it had half of the building missing. Not to mention that the roof had several holes and several of the windows were broken. The grass around the base was at least a foot tall, except for what seemed to be a small path to walk around the perimeter of the base.

"You guys. I highly doubt someone is here causing any anti-peace warfare. So can we go now," laughed Duo. He had expected a false alarm, and it looked like he was right.

"Maxwell's right, there's nothing here," agreed WuFei.

Heero nodded, and they turned to start walking back toward the road.

BANG. All of them stopped dead, and their eyes widened. "Did you just hear that?" Quatre asked, turning to look around the base.

"That sounded like a mobile suit," let out Duo.

They ran on the small path to the back of the base and peeked past the corner. The thing they thought they were least likely to see was standing right in front of them. There was a girl with black hair and green eyes standing on top of a mobile suit with a tool box. Not to mention the fact she was wearing an OZ uniform.

"Aww man," Duo mumbled. "So much for an easy mission."

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It had been a difficult day for Pilot Seven. She had finished up her last can of soup that morning, and so now she was down to cans of sausages and sardines and other things that were filling, but didn't give her much energy. Her stomach had been growling all day, and it was getting difficult for her to ignore it. Her hunger distracted her, and had made her morning simulations with the System a lot more difficult. She had almost lost control a few times, and had just barely kept herself from rejecting the System.

After a meager lunch of a few sardines, Pilot Seven made her way out to the hanger. Earlier in the week when she had been moving the mobile suits into the hanger, she had noticed that a camera on one of the Leos was malfunctioning. She needed to fix it, and since it was fairly warm out that day, she decided to do the repairs then.

She grabbed a tool box and climbed into the mobile suit. She carefully maneuvered the Leo outside to the tarmac, since the repair buildings had been destroyed beyond repair the night the base had been abandoned. Once outside, she climbed up to the shoulder of the suit and began working on repairing the camera.

Things went well for about the first hour. After that, Pilot Seven couldn't keep her mind off her rumbling stomach. The harder she tried to ignore it, the louder it seemed to get. She was so busy worrying about her stomach she wasn't concentrating on what her hands were doing. She grabbed the wrong wire and let out a yelp as a jolt of electricity snapped through her. In her surprise, she dropped the wrench in her hands. It fell twenty feet and hit the foot of the mobile suit with a bang loud enough to wake the dead.

Slightly frustrated, Pilot Seven stood and began the long climb down the suit to retrieve the wrench. Her stomach was still growling, and now her hand hurt. She had heard of bad days, but she had never really experienced one before.

She reached the foot and picked up the wrench with her uninjured hand. She noticed it had left a dent in the mobile suit. She made a mental note of it as she turned to climb back up the suit.

As she turned, Pilot Seven thought she heard something behind her. Turning, she saw a group of five young men standing about twenty feet away. After a quick assessment of the situation, she decided they must have come from around the corner of Hanger B.

Her first instinct was to run to them and --for some strange reason-- throw her arms around them. She hadn't seen other humans for so long! But her training was too good to allow her to do that. She didn't know these people, and therefore she needed to find out who they were and what they were there for.

"HALT!" she ordered, pointing at them. She reached down to her holster, checking that her gun was there. It was there, but she didn't take it out. She would interrogate the men first, and then decide if they were intruders or not. "State your names, ranks, and purpose of being here."

The young men all exchanged looks, and then the one in front nodded to them. He had black hair and blue eyes. "I am Officer Yuy. This is Officer Maxwell, Officer Barton, Officer Winner, and Officer Chang. We are here under orders from our superiors."

Pilot Seven thought this over for a second. They weren't wearing OZ uniforms, but then maybe they were wearing the Space Force uniforms. She had never seen the space uniforms for OZ. But maybe they weren't wearing the space uniforms, and they were from some other military. If that was the case, then they were enemies. But they hadn't fired a shot at her, so maybe they weren't enemies but allies?

Pilot Seven shook her head, trying to concentrate. Every part of her was yelling at her, telling her to eat. She shoved the idea of food down and thought some more. She remembered one of her trainers mentioning new cadets coming to the base a few days before the base was evacuated.

"Are you the new cadets?" she asked, jumping down from the Leo and walking towards them. Officer Maxwell made a noise, but then Officer Chang yanked on his long hair, silencing him. Officer Yuy spoke again. "Yes, we're the new cadets."

Pilot Seven nodded. "Do you have your papers?" She didn't know the exact protocol for welcoming new cadets to the base, but she did the best she could. She knew that this was another test from Colnel McCave, and if she did well on it, then maybe she would finally go to the moon

"No," Officer Yuy said. "Everything's done electronically now. Our information should have been sent to you this morning via telecommunications."

"I recieved nothing this morning," Pilot Seven replied.

"Perhaps it was delayed," Officer Barton put in. "The telecommunications lines do get lagged every now and then. I'm sure the files should have arrived by now. Perhaps they are waiting in the control room?"

Pilot Seven thought about all of this. If everything had been changed over to telecommunications, then that would be why she hadn't received an answer on the radio. "Follow me." She turned and led them through the base to the control center.

"Is it just me, or is she the only person here?" Duo mumbled to Quatre as they walked through the deserted halls of the base. Plaster had fallen from the ceiling, and at points they had to take long detours to avoid collapsed hallways.

"Are you the officer in charge?" Heero asked the girl.

"I am not an officer," she replied. "But I am in charge."

Duo shuttered. The way the girl talked, she sounded almost like an android. She hadn't smiled, laughed, frowned, or changed her facial expression in anyway since they had first seen her. She was kind of scary.

Like the rest of the base, the control room was deserted. It was becoming clear that she was the only one left at the base.

"If you're not an officer, what is your rank?" Trowa asked her.

"I do not have a rank. My identification is Pilot Seven," she replied.

"And they left you here?" Trowa asked.

"Yes, they left me here to hold the base until they return. What console would your files be sent to?" The girl asked.

"The one that reports are recorded on," Trowa replied.

Pilot Seven walked over to a computer and began working on it. Heero walked over to the radio console. He called up the records for the latest transmissions. He frowned at what he saw. She had been radioing on every radio signal she had access to everyday for the past few days. And it had been an SOS signal she had been sending out.

"You're the only one on the base?" Heero asked the girl. WuFei came over and peered at the screen Heero was looking at. He frowned as well.

"Yes."

"How long has it been since everyone else left?" Heero asked.

The girl turned from the console. "They should have briefed you on that before you came." The console behind her beeped. "I haven't received any records of cadets being sent here." She pulled out her gun and pointed it at Heero, who seemed to be the leader. "You are all under arrest for entering a base without authorization and impersonating OZ officers."

"Uh, newsflash girly," Duo broke in. "But there's no such thing as OZ anymore. OZ was gotten rid of more than a year ago."

The girl turned her gun on Duo. "Silence. You are under arrest." Duo gulped and looked at the gun. God, why did this always happen to him?

Heero frowned. He had thought something was funny about this girl, and now that he saw her holding the gun, he noticed her arm was shaking...almost as though she was fighting to keep it raised and holding the gun.

_'She's weak_,' Heero thought. _'If she's been here for over a year, she can't have much food left._' She wasn't a threat, Heero realized. In fact, she needed their help.

He walked towards the girl. She turned her gun back on him. "HALT!" she ordered, cocking the gun. Her arm was shaking more violently from the effort. Heero was amazed that she was till able to hold it up.

Heero stopped moving, but Trowa had caught on. While Pilot Seven's attention was turned onto Heero, Trowa rushed forward and grabbed her arm, pointing her gun at the ceiling. In surprise, she fired the gun and the bullets shot up into the ceiling. Duo and Quatre then leapt forward and held the struggling girl back as Trowa took the gun from her hand.

She struggled against the young men, trying to free herself. But her hunger was making her too weak, and after a few minutes she stopped fighting back, unable to continue.

Heero stepped forward. "We're not going to hurt you," he said. "We were sent here to investigate this abandoned base because the towns' people were hearing mobile suits moving around. I'm assuming you're the one who's been moving the suits?"

The girl didn't answer. She just stared straight ahead with a blank expression.

"We're here to help you. You're the only one on this base. You have been sending out SOS signals from the radio. OZ is no longer in existence, and you are not under arrest. We are just going to take you somewhere safe. Do you understand?" The girl didn't reply. "We're not going to handcuff you because you're too weak to fight back anyway. Do you understand?" Again, she didn't answer. She just stood silently, looking like a statue.

Nodding to his comrades, Heero turned. "Duo and Quatre, help her. Let's go."

Pilot Seven walked obediently along with her captors. What would Colonel McCave think of this? She had failed to identify intruders to the base, and now she was their captive. She had failed in her duty. Now she might not be able to go to the moon.

As they approached the gate, a light went on in Pilot Seven's head. They were leaving the base. No, she couldn't leave the base. Colonel McCave had told her when she was very small that if she ever left the base without him, she would definitely never go to the moon. These strange men were going to keep her from the moon!

"No," she said, trying to break free from the two boys helping her along. "No. I can't leave the base."

"You have to," the blond one said. "You'll die if you stay here."

"No! I can't leave! If I leave, I can't go to the moon! No! Let me go!" She tried to struggle, but she was too weak. Instead of breaking away from them, Pilot Seven was picked up by the boy with the long brown hair.

"I don't know what your problem is, girly, but you can't stay here," he said. "You need to get help."

Pilot Seven continued to protest until they crossed through the gate and were off the base. At that moment, she fell silent. It had happened, she had left the base. There was no point in protesting at all anymore. There was no chance she would ever go to the moon now. Colonel McCave would never forgive her for this.

She watched as the base became smaller behind them. It had been the only world she had ever really known and she...missed it. She had never felt the feeling of missing something until then, and she didn't like it. She pushed the feeling down and looked away from the base, wondering what was in store for her now.


	3. Chapter3

**Disclaimer: **We do not own Gundam Wing. Though we both will soon own DUO PLUSHIES!

**A/N:** We're thinking we might have to rethink the whole "update every thursday thing". We're writing this story over E-mail and communicating over AIM, so sometimes it takes us a while to touch base and make sure we agree with where the story is going. Also, school takes a lot of time (note that "dying" is conveniently placed at the end of the word "studying") So, please bear with us. Thanks. -EBTS and CWDA

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**Chapter 3**

The trip back to head quarters was quite the experience. Pilot Seven did as the boys told her to, but she refused to say anything. Her expression was blank, and her manner was rigid. She was weak with hunger, but she refused to eat anything anyone gave her. She somehow managed to stay conscious throughout the long trip. The boys took turns sleeping, making sure that at least one of them was awake at all times to keep an eye on her.

During his shift of staying awake, Duo tried to make conversation with her. "So, uh, what's your favorite color" he asked. She just stared blankly at him and said nothing. Frowning, Duo tried a different question. "Well then, do you like any certain kind of music" Pilot Seven continued to stare silently at him. Her blank expression gave Duo the creeps. Sighing, he leaned towards her. "Listen, I can understand you not wanting questions about your role in OZ and whatever" Duo whispered. "But there's no security risk in telling me a little bit about you."

"I will only respond to a fellow OZ soldier" she replied. That was all she said for the entire trip.

Heero had contacted Lady Une about the discovery of Pilot Seven before they had boarded the shuttle to return to head quarters. He had informed her of Pilot Seven's weakened state and her refusal to communicate with anyone but an OZ official.

When they finally reached head quarters, they were greeted by their fellow Preventer Sally Po, who was dressed an old OZ uniform that was just slightly too large for her.

"Dude, what's with the crazy get up" Duo asked her as he stepped out of the car.

Sally ignored Duo's question and directed her attention to the extremely thin girl that was getting out of the car behind him. "My name is officer Po" she said to Pilot Seven. "I have been given orders from Colonel Lady Une to escort you, Pilot Seven, to a debriefing room."

The look on Pilot Seven's face softened slightly, and she nodded. "I shall accompany you." She slowly followed Sally into the building, leaving the Gundam pilots standing out on the side walk.

"Why was Sally wearing an OZ uniform" Duo asked WuFei. WuFei just rolled his eyes and headed inside. Quatre answered Duo's question"Pilot Seven will only talk to an OZ soldier. The only way we can get her to believe that the war is over and everything is by having Sally and Lady pretend to be members of OZ."

Duo thought this over as they followed Wufei inside. "That makes sense."

"We'll watch the conversation from the observation room" Heero said. "I suspect Lady Une will want us close at hand after the debriefing."

.0.

Officer Po escorted Pilot Seven into a small, sterile looking room with a metal table in the center. A large mirror was placed on one wall. Looking at herself in the mirror, Pilot Seven was surprised to see the gaunt, exhausted ghost of a face that peered back at her. She had known she had lost a lot of weight since she had been left alone on the base, but she hadn't realized how drastic of a visible change she had undergone. Her uniform seemed to be hanging off of her like a tunic.

She sat down in the chair Officer Po offered her. "Colonel Une should be here soon" Officer Po told her. "But while we wait, I'm going to take some of your vital signs and things. Is that okay"

Pilot Seven blinked at her and then nodded. "Yes, it is fine."

Pilot Seven sat still as Officer Po took her temperature, her blood pressure, listened to her heart rate and breathing with a stethoscope, and took some blood samples. Sally was surprised that the girl didn't wince at all, not even when she put the needles into her arm to take the blood. She was obedient and silent, and the blank look on her face reminded Sally of Trowa or Heero back when they didn't show their emotions.

_'Is this girl another "perfect soldier"?'_ Sally thought as she gathered her medical instruments together. "I'll have someone bring in something for you to eat" Sally said aloud. "Do you like peanut butter and jelly"

"It doesn't matter what I like. I will eat whatever you choose to give me."

_'God, she sounds like a robot,'_ Sally thought as she left the room.

.0.

The Gundam pilots were in the room next to the interrogation room, looking through the double-sided mirror at the strange girl they had brought back. She sat patiently, waiting for Lady Une.

"She's far too skinny to be considered healthy" Quatre observed. He was sitting in a chair next to the double-sided mirror.

"She's half starved" Heero replied. "I don't know how she managed to get enough food to survive for over a year, but she did."

The door opened and in stepped Lady Une, dressed in her old magenta OZ uniform.

"Whoa! Flash back time" Duo said, grinning.

Lady Une shook her head but otherwise ignored the long-haired boy. "I want you all to watch my interview with the girl. From what Heero's told me, I'm sure she's too weak to cause any problems, but I have security guards in place at the doors, just in case. Trowa, I want you to take notes on anything you boys find interesting. Can you do it"

Trowa nodded and took the pad of paper and the pen she handed him. She then turned and left the room, and a few moments later entered the room that contained Pilot Seven.

"This should be interesting" Wufei mumbled, leaning against the wall.

.0.

Lady Une took a deep breath and slowly opened the room. It felt weird to be in this uniform again. As she entered, the girl in the room jumped to her feet and saluted her.

"Pilot seven," Lady Une said, nodding in acknowledgement of the salute.

"Ma'am," answered back the girl in front of her.

"At ease," replied Lady Une sternly.

"I have a few questions for you," added Lady Une. She was shocked to see how blank the expression on the girl's face was, and to top it all off she resembled a skeleton. "Who was your commanding officer, and what position did you hold at the base?" asked Lady Une.

"My commanding officer was Colonel McCave. I did not have a specific position at the base," the girl answered.

"Then what were you on the base?" Lady Une asked.

"I was being trained for a special purpose."

Lady Une frowned. "Tell me about your training. What was it like? How long were you trained?"

"My training began at the age of three, and I was taught to check the perimeter around the base three times a day, how to operate and service mobile suits, and how to use several different types of fire arms. All of my training was done separate from other soldiers, and my training was far more rigorous than theirs. A year and a half ago, I began training under a simulation program separate from other soldiers," replied the girl.

"Did you know the purpose of your training" asked Lady Une.

"I know that it was to pilot an Oz Mobile Suit made from Gundanium alloy," replied the girl.

_'She's talking about Epyon,'_ crossed Lady Une's mind. She shook her head. "Were there any consequences for you if you didn't do as you were told? If so what were the reasons they were upset with you, and what would be the penalty if the offense was repeated too many times"

"I was refused a chance to go to the moon if I rejected the simulation and if I showed emotion," replied the girl.

"Did you ever have any interaction with the outside world?" asked Lady Une. She hoped that the girl at least knew what it was like to be around civilians.

"I've only been in contact with the OZ personal that were assigned to me, and I was strictly told that if I left the base I wouldn't be able to go to the moon," replied the girl.

Lady Une frowned. "I'm assuming that Pilot Seven is just your code name. We do not have any files on a person named 'Pilot Seven' anywhere in the OZ files. What is your real name, or your identification number"

"My name is Pilot Seven. I have never been called anything else. To my knowledge, I do not have an identification number."

Lady Une's frown grew. No real name or identification number? What had McCave been trying to pull? "Why were you alone at the base?" questioned Lady Une, trying to get to the bottom of this ever-growing mystery.

"One night the other soldiers left the base. No one gave me any instruction to leave, and so I knew that my job would remain the same as it's always been," replied the girl. "I remained on the base, performing my daily duties and maintaining the base. I knew that Colonel McCave and the other soldiers would one day return, and I would hold the base until then."

Sighing, Lady Une sat down in a chair across the table from Pilot Seven. "I'm going to read you something from an Oz file. It may sound strange to you, but it is the truth." She pulled an official document out of the folder she had been carrying and read aloud. "Today, December 26, AC 195, it has been confirmed that Colonel McCave was killed during the battle between OZ and the White Fang on December 24, AC 195." She paused and looked up at Pilot Seven. The girl's face was still mostly blank, except for her eyes, which had a clouded look to them. "I have another document to read to you." Lady Une pulled out another official document. "December 27, AC 195. OZ has been disbanded and disarmed. All OZ soldiers are to surrender their post and take up lives as civilians. Peace has finally been obtained at the cost of a great organization. There is no longer any need for OZ or mobile suits." Lady Une paused again, and looked up at Pilot Seven. This time, Pilot Seven's eyebrows were scrunched together, and she looked confused. "Both of these documents were printed over a year ago," informed Lady Une. "OZ no longer exists."

Pilot Seven looked up at her, confusion evident. "If OZ is no longer in existence then...what am I supposed to do" she asked, her gaunt face getting a haunted expression.

Lady Une shook her head and stood up. "I suggest you put your past behind you and start a new normal life as a civilian. I will put you in the hands of caretakers, and I will see to it personally that you are sent to the colony on the moon. I hope this pleases you, and I hope the best for you, and I hope you recover to your full health." Lady Une could see that many thoughts were running through the girl's head. "Go, learn what it means to be a civilian and learn to live without OZ's guidance, Pilot Seven. That is your last order as an OZ solidier."

Pilot seven stared, trying to sort through the information she had been given. _'No need for me to serve Oz anymore…What will I do? Well, Lady Une is right I should start a new life, but how I don't know anything about the outside world. At least I get to go to the moon, but there are so many problems that lie ahead that I have not been trained to deal with!'_

Pilot Seven looked up at Lady Une. It was obvious that the former OZ commander was not lying, and that she was deeply worried about her. But at the same time, she showed that she wasn't going to trust Pilot Seven until she showed a sign of giving up her duty as an Oz soldier. After a moment's thought, Pilot Seven slowly unbuttoned her shirt, removed it, and placed it on the table. The shock of the moment was over whelming for Pilot Seven.

"Who will take care of me?"

"The young men that found you," replied Lady Une knowing that at the moment, the five Gundam Pilots were sitting behind the mirror in utter shock.

.0.

The pencil fell from Trowa's hands. Quatre's jaw dropped. Heero went rigid. WuFei's face alternated between shock and anger. Duo sat up straight in his seat.

"What did she just say" Duo cried, looking at his comrades.

Heero frowned. "She said we will be taking care of the girl."

"But why us" Quatre asked. "We don't know how to take care of people! And we're not much older than she is"

Heero turned and walked to the door of the room. "I suppose she thinks that since we're young, we'll know best how she should act."

WuFei shook his head angrily. "No. I refuse to lower myself to the level of a caretaker for a pathetic woman."

"It doesn't look like we have much of a choice" Trowa replied, nodding at the double-sided mirror.

They all looked to the mirror and saw Lady Une standing on the other side, facing it with her back to Pilot Seven. She was talking to Pilot Seven, but the expression on her face told them she wasn't going to let them off the hook. "Those young men" she was saying. "Are some of our best operatives. They will be able to take good care of you and help you make the transition from military personnel to civilian. Besides, they still need some help in that area themselves, and your presence will help them in that. They may have a few objections over it at first, but they will do as they are ordered. If they take any of their feelings on it out on you, just tell me, and we'll see what we can do. They need to learn that the world doesn't just revolve around them, and that their lives need to involve other people." Her eyes narrowed and she seemed to glare directly at WuFei. "Including women."

Quatre moaned and leaned back in his seat. "It doesn't look like we'll be able to talk our way out of this."

Duo was silent. He was thinking about what he had been wishing only a day or two ago: He had been wanting an easy mission for the summer. Something like babysitting. He couldn't believe the irony of the situation.

"Someone up there has a twisted sense of humor" he mumbled.


End file.
